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UK Advertising Watchdog Censures Special K® General Health Claims

The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld two complaints alleging that advertisements touting Kellogg Co.’s Special K® products as “full of goodness” and “nutritious” violated broadcast (BCAP) and non-broadcast (CAP) advertising codes for food, food supplements and associated health claims. The complaints targeted a TV ad for Special K® porridge that included supported health claim related to vitamin B2, as well as website claims regarding the product’s “unique Nutri K™ recipe.”

According to ASA, the agency “shared Kellogg’s view that the claim ‘full of goodness’ was a reference to a general, non-specific health benefit of the product and as such, we agreed that Kellogg was required to accompany it with a specific authorized health claim.” But because the authorized vitamin B2 claim did not immediately follow the general health claim, ASA found the ad in breach of BCAP Code Rule 13.4.3. The watchdog also felt that the website advertisement violated CAP Code Rule 15.2 because it made a general health claim that was not accompanied by “a specific authorized health claim.”

“From the home page (on which the claim first appeared), consumers must click through a further two pages to reach the dedicated page for Nutri K™ flakes,” notes ASA in its July 20, 2016, ruling. “That page listed a specific authorized health claim alongside a list of nutrients found in the flakes. However, accompanying specific health claims should appear next to or immediately following the general health claim.”

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